Hazard has announced that he will be leaving Ligue 1 champions Lille in the summer, and clubs including United, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid have all been linked.

Ferguson scouted Hazard in March, while the club's first-team coach, Rene Meulensteen, talked up a potential bid earlier this month.

Ferguson has now told French station Radio RMC: "I was at the game and watched Hazard, as well as other players. That's part of my job, looking at good players.

"Hazard is a very good player and has a lot of qualities. He's particularly quick over the first ten yards."

Ferguson also praised France national team coach Laurent Blanc, who played for United late in his career and has been linked with the Chelsea job as well as a potential return to Old Trafford.

"The France team is more balanced and has become a winning team again,'' Ferguson said. "As in 1998, it has established a balance between young and experienced players.

"When Laurent played in Manchester he followed our training methods very carefully. That's very intelligent and obviously he has qualities as a coach because he made Les Bleus a winning team again.''